I was terribly behind with my Thanksgiving planning this year...terribly.

I didn’t have anything done when I got home from work Wednesday night at around 7:00. (Which is why I’m just now posting this, instead of doing it before Thanksgiving.)

However, lucky for me, this year my husband did the turkey, and he also did the menu planning. He took the week off and was great at getting the recipes planned, the turkey brined, and the stuffing started.

I usually enjoy laying the table. I always do it a few days ahead of time so I can make sure some me-time is left over.

This year though, I just didn’t have a moment to get it done. And, well, I assumed that because I’ve done this so many times I could easily whip it together in no time.

Of course, that's not how things worked out.

I stewed and fussed on that table for about two and a half hours Wednesday night, but I didn’t like anything I laid out. I was tired, totally zapped of any creative energy, and frustrated that I couldn’t make anything I had look good.

I hadn’t bought any pumpkins this year because I kept thinking I’d get them later, but "later" never came. Plus, because I’m a fan of keeping things simple (and I always hate throwing away tons of pumpkins after Thanksgiving), I thought I’d do something different to change things up a bit.

Cue my daughter's reaction:

Later that evening, after spending more time than I thought would be necessary decorating the tabletop, my daughter arrived at the house. Her reaction: "It looks nice."

"Nice"...no one likes to hear "nice".

But she was right. It wasn't WOW-worthy. Something was missing.

“Where are the pumpkins?" she asked. "It doesn’t look very fall-like.”

Before she could say anything more, I realized what I needed to do.

The next morning I'd go to the market to pick up some pumpkins.

(Fast-forward to the following morning...)

I'm at the market, walking around, scanning all that was around me, searching for the pumpkins Tori said the tabletop desperately needed, and found...

NOTHING. Every single pumpkin had been sold. I needed to figure out a plan B, fast.

And that's when I saw some dark green acorn squash.

They looked fall-ish, unusual, and I could make some soup or something with them after Thanksgiving. Perfect. ;-)

Cue my son's reaction:

“There’s Mom, with some black pumpkins this year.” :-)

His comment, along with the fact that when my niece saw the layout she immediately dropped her bag and began taking pictures, made me feel like the tabletop must've turned out alright. (My photographer daughter also took some beautiful shots; they're the ones you see scattered throughout this post. ;-)

All in all we had a lovely time, a fantastic dinner, and I felt like I hadn’t totally lost my skills. :-)

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